How often do aircraft carriers deploy?
The Navy used to deploy aircraft carriers on a strict, rotational basis, and it was typically known years in advance precisely when a specific carrier would deploy. However this is no longer the case and aircraft carrier deployments are much more difficult to predict. In the wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, then Defense Secretary Rumsfeld tasked the Navy with developing a means to increase carrier readiness over the course of the 18-month inter-deployment training cycle (IDTC). The result was the Fleet Response Plan (FRP). The Navy must now be able to deploy as many as six aircraft carriers and their associated air-wings anywhere in the world within 30 days of notice, and an additional aircraft carrier within the next 60 days. This requires carrier strike groups, to include the carrier air wings, to maintain a higher state of readiness throughout a 32-month Fleet Response Plan Cycle. This further requires that the air wings conduct carrier qualifications throughout
